Depression

How to discover and defuse.

Many people live in a state of depression for years and do not suspect it. Everyone has autumn blues, bad days, lack of self-confidence, but depression is not just a bad mood.

Depression is one of the most common diseases of our time. It has become so widespread that it does not surprise the patient, and to the question "How are you?" you often hear the answer: "Yes, like everyone else, depression."

What is depression?

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by severe apathy, pessimism, decreased mood and activity, loss of interest and satisfaction in activities that used to bring joy.

Advice to cheer up or pull yourself together does not help a person with depression, but doctors have effective methods of therapy to return him to his usual life.

I imagine depression as a kind of cocktail of various manifestations, the proportions of which are unique in each case. Heer is the recipe:

• Anxiety

• Irritability 

• Dissatisfaction with yourself.

• Loss of joy

• Sleep disturbances

• Change in appetite

• Decreased sexual desire

• Weakness

Alcoholism. Sometimes drinking brings relief, depression passes, and a person grabs it like a life preserver. But the next morning - only worse.

Indecision. It is difficult to make any decision, fear of responsibility.

A feeling of meaninglessness of the future and one’s own life.

Causes of Depression

The exact causes of depression are unknown. It is believed that depressive disorder occurs due to a combination of factors: genetic predisposition, disorders in the functioning of the brain, severe or chronic stress, some concomitant diseases and lifestyle factors.

Let's conditionally divide them into two groups:

• Psychological

• Physiological

Psychological causes:

• Mental trauma – death of relatives or friends, presence during disasters, physical violence. Usually such depressions pass in 1-2 months, but without proper treatment they can lead to persistent changes in personality or to protracted depression.

• Constant stressful situation – minor troubles lead to more persistent and deep depressions than short-term strong shocks. These “minor” troubles can be a consequence of living in the same territory with a person who irritates you a lot, alcoholism of one of the family members, a job that you do not like, a chronic illness. Such depressions are treated for a longer period of time.

• Old psychological trauma – mental traumas received in childhood and adolescence can suddenly “surface” after a long time and lead to the development of depressions, phobias, obsessions and other neuroses. In this case, psychotherapy should be aimed at overcoming psychological trauma.

• Frustration is a condition that occurs when you want something, but the fulfillment of this desire is impossible. Such conditions require psychotherapy aimed at achieving what you want or at utilizing the desire.

• Existential crisis is the loss of the meaning of life, purpose, sense of harmony. It can be both a sign and a cause of depression.